


Hopelessly Devoted to You

by skyenotdaisy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, One Shot, so spoilers, takes place during Infinity War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 04:12:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14926923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyenotdaisy/pseuds/skyenotdaisy
Summary: This is going to sound cliche, but it's true. I honestly didn't believe in love. I was a scientist first and foremost, recruited to Wakanda for my advanced work and research into exotic plants and their healing properties. Above all, I knew that love was really just a set of chemical reactions of different characteristics in someone we saw as a potential mate. Frankly, it was something I felt I could do without.Then I met the man with the metal arm.





	Hopelessly Devoted to You

This is going to sound cliche, but it's true. I honestly didn't believe in love. I was a scientist first and foremost, recruited to Wakanda for my advanced work and research into exotic plants and their healing properties. Above all, I knew that love was really just a set of chemical reactions of different characteristics in someone we saw as a potential mate. Frankly, it was something I felt I could do without. 

Then I met the man with the metal arm. 

He was a challenge, that was for sure, but one Shuri and I were eager to take on. While her main focus was seeing how the brain washing had affected him as well as how to reverse it, my job was to use my skills and knowledge of plants to heal his body from the constant freezing it had gone through. Really though, my psychology Ph.D came in handy more than anything. 

James was from a different time, and it showed. Not only was it good for him to discuss his past in a positive setting, but I found it so . . . interesting. I had always been intrigued with history and hearing about it first hand? That was better than any history class I had ever taken. Of course, it was all professional. 

Until it wasn't. 

He was the most fascinating man I had ever met. How could I not want to constantly be around him? That was logical. It wasn't until I started craving his physical touch, the accidental brushes of our hands as I handed him the shovel, the gentle teasing shove with his shoulder as I made a terrible joke, that I realized it had gone beyond the professional. During our long talks, I would sit close, hoping for any accidental touch or laugh that would cause us to clasp our hands together from laughing too hard. I had never really wanted that affection before. 

The morning I knew for sure there was something there for both of us was when I woke up in his cottage after having a little too much to drink the night before. I was covered in a blanket on his couch, and it was one I'm sure I hadn't had on me last night. It took mere seconds to find him, sitting against the front of the couch, in what had to be an uncomfortable position. I was about to wake him up and insist he move to his bedroom when I realized what he had done. He had positioned his body so awkwardly because it blocked me from anyone who might storm through the front door. Even in his slightly intoxicated state, one of his first thoughts was to protect me. 

That was also the moment I knew I was wrong, and James Barnes had me. He had me in a tight grip that he didn't even know he possessed. 

Of course, as soon as I had that realization, everything went to hell. 

I was watching him in the garden, a smile on my lips as he told me a story of his mom and how she had once chased his dad around the kitchen with a pan because he had a bug on his shoulder when I saw T'Challa and Oyoke approached with a box I knew Bucky had had hoped to never see again. My fingers knotted together in anxiety the closer that they got. I knew there was only one reason for them to be coming here with that. 

"You don't have to do this." I told him later as we stood in the kitchen, staring at the arm on the table. 

"Steve needs me," he replied simply before picking it up. 

I wasn't a fighter. I wouldn't be out in the field. I couldn't do anything to help him. Except talk to him. I slipped the beaded bracelet from my wrist to his own. "Wear them." 

He started to protest, but I spoke up before he could. 

"For me. I need to be able to see you and hear you and make sure -"

Bucky flipped the grip of our hands, squeezing mine tightly. "I'll wear it." 

I breathed a slight sigh of relief. "You'll be fine though, right? I mean . . . you kick ass, and you'll have Steve, Okoye, the King all with you. There will hardly be anything for you to do -" I wasn't sure if I was trying to reassure him or myself. 

"You know, I don't think I've had someone worry about me in a long time . . . Well, other than Steve." Bucky said, a little half smile on his face. 

"Well, I - I just -" I couldn't help but stammer, my face flushing red as I tried to find the right words to speak. Eventually I gave up, and in a move that surprised even me, I threw my arms around his neck. It didn't take him but a moment to respond, his arm wrapping around my waist and holding me tight against his chest. I even felt his face bury in the top of my head. "You've come so far . . . I don't want anything to happen to you." I whispered quietly. 

"I can't promise it won't." Bucky didn't sugarcoat it. "I can promise I'll try though. After all, I've got a girl to come back to." 

I bit my lip at that statement and leaned back just slightly so that I could look up at him, my face still more red than I would have liked. "Yeah . . . you do." 

He had an actual grin this time, and my whole body melted against him as I felt his lips press against the top of my head. 

While he briefly calmed my nerves, they returned full force when Bucky introduced me to Captain America and a few other Avengers. They all seemed nice, a little on the anxious side, but I assumed that had to do with the circumstances. After all, my anxiety was through the roof as well. Out of all of them though, Steve seemed especially interested in the woman holding his best friend's hand. It made me blush, but I couldn't bring myself to let go, even with the all knowing smile that Shuri kept giving me. Thankfully, there was no time for an interrogation, and before I knew it, they were rushing out the door to join the fight. As they did that, I was tasked with helping Shuri remove the stone from Vision's head. "So . . . the metal arm does it for you, huh?" She teased. 

"Oh, shut it," I retorted, my face heating up immediately while she burst into laughter. 

I didn't expect the battle to be brought to us. Without help . . . I don't know what would have happened. It gave me a terrifying realization though. Protecting us had been their number one priority. If they hadn't been able to do that . . . Pure panic and adrenaline shot through my veins. I ran faster than I ever had, anxiously pressing the beads around my wrist, waiting for Bucky to respond. I tried to shut out all the sounds, all the battle cries and screeches of animal sounds that I was too terrified to investigate. As I sank against a nearby wall, I tried again. "Come on, Bucky," I whispered. 

Then suddenly . . . all sound stopped, and his face appeared in front of me. 

"Oh, Bucky, thank God," I choked out. 

"Something's not right." 

"Bucky, what do you -" 

"Steve!" He called out, as I assumed he caught sight of his friend. 

The line and hologram suddenly vanished. 

"Oh God . . ."

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment or kudos! Thanks for reading :) This work is also published on Wattpad and will be posted on tumblr as well.


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